h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I can never get into that whole new type of torture-porn horror film they make. Give me menacing dogs and ecclesiastical music anyday.

I think I just spelled ecclesiastical right

I watched The Life of David Gale last night. It was a bit obvious. Scratch that, it was bloody obvious; what was going on. Although despite the whole thing being marred slightly by obviousness, Kevin Spacey's posionous smugness and Kate Winslets overacting I quite enjoyed it.

"Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?"

- Hillary Clinton

No, sorry, Lady MacBeth, I always confuse those two ...

*squeaks with excitement* I actually went to a cinema over Christmas! Took the children to see Enchanted - really enjoyed it. Although it would have been cheaper to wait and buy the DVD when it comes out ... are cinema attendances still falling?

DH took Sic to see The Golden Compass - she loved it, he was less enthusiastic. Ian McKellen was apparently too Ian McKelleny.

And I watched the complete Lord of the Rings over three evenings (cinema version) Well, actually I did something else while they were on, just looking up for my favourite bits.

Mol

went to the pictures last night with 6 girlfriends to see Kein Ohr Hasen - the latest offering by Till Schweiger.

Cute Rom-Com - which is what he does best - and it may or may not been his naked bottom (which is a bonus). It was the type of bum that you'd want to sink your teeth into

Just seen "The Princess Bride" I forgot what a classic it was.... proper helluva funny for a kids film.

"Princess Bride", an alltime great. Perfect casting, with great character parts by Andre the Giant, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, and especially Wallace Shawn as Vizzini:

Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...
Vizzini: [Vizzini stops suddenly, and falls dead to the right]

I watched "Murder on the Orient Express" one more time last night, its pretty good, too. A good Agatha Christie plot, and a stellar cast (it might be easier to list the stars who were NOT in it), like John Gielgud as butler Beddoes:

Beddoes: Oh, yes, sir, the Italian gentleman.
Hercule Poirot: Eh, does he speak English?
Beddoes: A kind of English, sir. I think he learnt it in a place called Chicago.

Somehow "Arthur" comes to mind ... some years later and Beddoes has become Hobson, but the same character.

But I think director Sidney Lumet made it work. The establishing shots were magic - Hagia Sophia for just a few seconds, the snowy mountains of a couple of continents, and especially the external shots of the train.

I have a book where Lumet talks about a LONG traveling shot of the train running right up to the camera. They shot it in Paris, before dawn when the tracks were empty and the darkness would help the desired atmosphere. But problems led to delays and the sun was not far away, nor were other trains. They finally had one take, and when the train stopped, Lumet asked the director of photography, "Well?" he said "Got it." Lumet said "Cut and print", then headed for the bar.

I saw 'Straightheads' the other day. Not having heard of it before I had no idea what to expect. It's an odd little film, seriously violent in places and all a bit pointless. Enjoyable though.

Yeah Vizzini is helluva good.

Having rewatched "Princess Bride" it is amazing how much Matthew Vaughan obviously used it as a template for "Stardust".

having been reminded by this thread I watched The Princess Bride last night.

Brilliant stuff.

I was made to watch Princess Bride by two visiting US exchange students while at university.

I didn't get the ebullience with which they greeted it.

<--- them , me ------->

Sat up watching FilmFour on digital recently and caught the following two films:

"Beneath The Planet of the Apes", the sequel to "Planet of the Apes" which actually treads much of the same ground as the first film for a bit (with a Chuck Heston stand-in called Brent who follows Taylor's trajectory and ends up in the same place) before embarking on a different plotline whereby the Gorillas declare war on the mysterious Forbidden Zone dwellers (who also kidnap Heston at the start). I remember thinking it was ace when I was much younger but now the digs at racism and the Vietnam War look heavy-handed rather than cutting. In particular the protests against the Gorilla's war by young chimpanzees has all the subtletey of a sledgehammer as well as looking unfortunately ridiculous. It picks up when the action moves to the ruins of New York under the Forbidden Zone, though, and the ending is incredibly bleak.

the other was Todd Solondz's "Palindromes" which is about a thirteen-year-old girl who wants to get pregnant and ends up falling-in with a Christian group who are revealed as anti-abortion terrorists. The film's main "twist" is that the central character is played by eight different actors, one of them male, two of them adult and all of a mish-mash of races. It's very, very disorientating but it's interesting how the viewer's perception of the central character (Aviva, whose name is a palindrome) changes as the actor does. It also covers morally dodgy territory without really commenting on it and, like a lot of gangster movies, it keeps you watching even though none of the characters are especially likeable. It made me want to watch some of his other films, especially "Welcome to the Dollhouse" which "Palindromes" is sort-of a sequel to.

Just seen "The Hurrican" about Rubin Carter.

Some good performances but not something that could be described as a "great film" IMHO. A 2.5/5 I should say

Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

Disappointing.

It started well but completely fizzled out into a very weak ending. Natalie Portman starts off being a would-be concert pianist (or composer, not sure which...) and by the end of the movie...er...nothing more is made of this.

Dustin Hoffman's teeth were very annoying, and made him sound a lot like Tigger.

Me and a friend watched David gale ages ago on dvd when it came out. Right when it got to the part when the video tape appears, we paused it and worked through the various motives and opportunities to determine who had done it - and we were right!

I think the story was a really good one (and I liked the idea of Spacy being his own St Jude and Linney his Judas, who with a kiss, sends Gale to his cross.)

The entire third act however was a non-sequitur and really took away from the preceding two acts what with Kate Winslet being bound and gagged and writhing about on the floor. A bit gratuitous.

Loved the movie though.

1408. A very good scary film made me jump many times.

I've had a bit of a film fest recently due to being

I'm still watching Primer and I still don't understand it properly although I've solved a few more problems and noticed the voiceover bit that talks about "against their nature decided it must be unknowable..." is exactly in the middle of the film.

Puritan. Another nebulously cyclic narrative, like Lost Highway a bit. Very enjoyable film. Performances so-so but this doesn't detract to much as the film is quite ambient in a noir-ish way and with a good mix of mysticysm and modernity.

The Darwin Awards. Good as well, but not amazing. Good performances and very funny with nicely broken up structure but slightly flat on the whole. One belly laugh.

The Reaping. Rented on the strength of Swank in Million Dollar Baby. The Reaping is unadulterated McPooshit-o-rubbish however. I need help with horror films please, I think I'm stuck in the seventies.

Loads of older films for which my are probably pointless.

Panic room The Straight Story Spellbound and a few more which can't be up to much as I can't remember what they were

I went to see Lust, Caution at the weekend.

Meh. About an hour too long, for starters. And the rest of it...well, I just ain't that bothered about Chinese politics.

Still, the "lust" parts were...lusty!

RF

A few recently:

Stranger Than Fiction. Forgotten what it was about already.

Snakes on a Plane. That was about snakes on a plane. At least I can remember the theme

Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds in concert on Sky Indie - absolutely mesmerising if you're familiar with the record. Brilliant. Rarely do you see musicianship of this standard, and never played between the feet of a giant martian tripod. Though the huge disembodied and animated head of Richard Burton was disconcerting.

World Trade Center. Disappointing. Obviously supposed to be tear-jerking, but somehow failed. The story could just as easily have been about a couple of guys in a car crash; the whole 9/11 thing seemed superfluous. Didn't really do the full horror of the thing any justice.

I watched about 10 minutes of Jeff Wayne's smug mug before turning to my partner and saying "This is absolute sh!te, isn't it?" and finding something else on the box.

I'm glad I didn't pay £50 to watch it live.

But different strokes, I guess

Watched Signs on Monday. Can't think of much to say about it, sadly.

I saw "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zoussou" last Saturday and now, along with "The Darjeeling Limited", it's probably my favourite Wes Anderson film. After being disappointed with "The Royal Tenenbaums" I'm glad I gave him a second chance.

Not only does "Life Aquatic" have a great ensemble cast, it has an engaging plot involving searching for a specific shark and some terrific use of music. It's also got Bill Murray in the lead role which usually cements any film's greatness.